GM & Ford to Add 6000 US Jobs in 2014

“This will bring the four-year total of announced investments in our U.S. plants to more than $10 billion,” said Akerson. “It is going to be spread from Detroit and our birthplace city of Flint, Michigan, to hard-working communities like Romulus, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio; and Bedford, Indiana.”

The investments will support facility upgrades and production of a new V6 engine, new 10-speed transmission and an existing 6-speed transmission. The facilities slated for funding are:

$600 million – Flint Assembly
$493.4 million – Romulus Powertrain Operations
$121 million – Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly
$30.6 million – Toledo Transmission
$29.2 million – Bedford Castings

In his remarks, Akers listed GMs past failings and highlighted the changes that have renewed GM’s strength and presence in the American auto market. Of interest and concern to steel makers, were his comments on lightweighting vehicles to meet fuel economy standards. “That means using more aluminum,” said Akerson. GM patented a procedure to spot weld aluminum that reduces 25 pounds of rivets per vehicle. Currently the auto industry uses about 20 million tons of steel and 100,000 tons of aluminum per year, but aluminum use is expected to increase to 1 million tons by 2025.

Ford plans to accelerate its US production with the launch of 16 new vehicles in 2014 and create more than 5000 new jobs in the process. The new hires will include 3,330 salaried positions, 80 percent of which will be professionals who work in product development, manufacturing, quality and IT. About 25 percent of the 400 engineering positions created will be dedicated to hybrid development and production.

More than 2000 jobs will be added at the Kansas City Assembly Plant to support production of the new Ford Transit Connect and increased demand for the Ford F-150. Ford recently invested $1.1 billion to retool and expand the plant. Of the 2000 jobs at Kansas City, 1000 are expected to be new hires.

“This is the fastest and most aggressive manufacturing expansion the company has undergone in 50 years,” said John Fleming, executive vice president, Ford global manufacturing. “The last time Ford was growing like this, Dwight D. Eisenhower was the U.S. president.”

Ford also plans to expand its foreign presence with the opening of three new plants, two in China and one in Brazil. Over 6000 mostly hourly workers will be hired in Asia next year.

Management Changes

GM will soon be headed by the first woman CEO of a major automaker, Mary Barra, following Akerson’s retirement in January.

There is also speculation that Ford CEO Alan Mulally may be tapped for CEO of Microsoft Corp where he reportedly is the top contender for the position. Even if he does not get the position, it is unlikely that he will remain at Ford through 2014, according to some sources. Chief Operating Officer Mark Fields is thought to be the likely successor to Mulally at Ford.